Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - News

News

CHENNAI, INDIA – The EMS Alliance, a group of multinational electronics manufacturing firms, said the size of India's electronics industry is currently at $25 billion and thinks it will grow 36% in the next two years.

It also forecasts its member revenues from India to rise to $2 billion, a 39% increase in just two years.

The consortium is planning a major manufacturing base in India to focus on the local electronics market.

According to the government, consumer electronic production for 2006 through 2007 was almost $5 billion, a growth rate of about 10% year-over-year, with CE accounting for 35% of total electronics hardware production.

WEST BRIDGEWATER, MA – Sunburst EMS is building NeuroMetrix's latest neurodiagnostic instrumentation equipment, the company said today. Sunburst has established a dedicated space within its plant for the Neurometrix product, a standalone, vertically-integrated work cell for board-level functional test, sub-unit functional test, systems test, and final customer packaging.

Sunburst has built NeuroMetrix’s NC Stat System since September 2005.

BANNOCKBURN, IL -- Rigid PCB shipments among North American fabricators fell 10.7% and bookings dropped 9.8% percent in June, IPC said today.

However, rigid shipments were up 12.3% and bookings rose 20.8% sequentially. The book-to-bill ratio for the rigid PCB industry in June 2007 climbed back up above parity to 1.01.

Flex circuit shipments fell 14.1% and bookings nosedived 37.8% versus last year. Shipments were up 4.5% over May, but bookings dropped 3.4%. The flex circuit book-to-bill ratio was positive at 1.12.

The book-to-bill ratios are calculated by dividing the value of orders booked over the past three months by the value of sales billed during the same period from the companies in IPC’s survey sample. A book-to-bill ratio above 1.0 is considered a sign of future growth.

About 16% of the reported value was comprised of boards made offshore and distributed by North American fabricators.

For the year, combined (rigid and flex) shipments are down 10.4% and bookings are down 14.9%. Rigid shipments are down 10.9% and bookings are down 16.3%. Flex shipments are down 2.3% and bookings are up 7.3%.

Shipments of all board types dropped 11% in June and orders fell 12.2%. The combined book-to-bill was 1.01.

JUAREZ, MEXICO -- Viasystems Inc. will expand its operations here, adding sheet metal fabrication capabilities to its backplane assembly and integration capabilities.

The company didn't disclose the amount of the investment, but said it will be made over a two-year period.

SAN JOSE – Flextronics reported fiscal first-quarter sales rose 27% to $5.16 billion, at the high end of analyst estimates. Net income was $107 million, up 27% from a year ago.

Operating margins were 2.5%. Inventory days fell five days sequentially to 47 days.

ANGLETON, TX – EMS firm Benchmark Electronics today announced net income was $25.9 million for the second quarter, a 6% drop from the same period last year.

WASHINGTON, DC — Total factory-to-dealer sales of consumer electronics will surpass $160 billion in 2007, according to Consumer Electronics Association. The association’s semiannual U.S. Consumer Electronics Sales and Forecasts projects 8% industry growth for the year.

More than 60 companies contributed to this latest report, and coverage of existing product categories was expanded to include HDTVs, personal computers and cellular phones. Among new product categories are set-top boxes, next-generation DVD players, VoIP adapters, digital photo frames, smartphones and MP3 player speaker docks.

Accessories have emerged as a powerful booster to overall CE sales, says CEA. The association predicts accessory sales will reach almost $9 billion, with more than 317 million units shipped this year.

The largest contributor in terms of dollar sales continues to be display technologies, adds CEA. Forecasted to reach shipment totals of $26 billion, the display category, including flat screen digital TVs, continues to grow with more than 30 million digital televisions projected to ship by year's end.

The portable communications market will also grow substantially. CEA projects more than $20 billion will be spent on portable devices, an increase of 12% year-over-year. This is in part a result of consumer demand for devices that enable entertainment content and business applications on the go, says CEA.

The association claims smartphones, including the Apple iPhone, typify consumer demand for converged wireless capabilities, including e-mail, Internet browsing, instant messaging, and audio and video entertainment.

HAMPSTEAD, NH – P.D. Circuits Inc., a leading PWB distributor, has completed Phase 1 of its China PWB Supply Chain Management group development. In the program's first year, the company hired a group manager, registered the company, established an office in Shenzhen, and set up its initial China bare board inspection facility.

Since that time, P.D. Circuits has added an operations manager, a process engineer and QC inspectors. Two of the new employees have also certified to IPC-A-600G and initiated training and inspection visits to P. D.’s manufacturing partners.

NEWARK, NY — EMS provider IEC Electronics Corp. reported third-quarter net profit rose 700% to $553,000, while sales jumped 110% to $11.2 million.

Fiscal year-to-date net profits are $579,000 on sales of $31.3 million. Both figures are up strongly over last year's revenue of $14.6 million and net loss of $137,000.

The company added 20 employees during the quarter, which ended June 29.

In a statement, chairman and CEO W. Barry Gilbert said order backlogs are "reasonably higher" than the $21.7 million figure reported at the end of fiscal 2006. Growth came from existing acounts; IEC did not add any new customers during the quarter.

NEENAH, WI - Plexus Corp., a top EMS firm, reported third-quarter net profits fell 38% on a 4.4% drop in sales.

RUSHFORD, MN - RiverBend Electronics Ltd. announced the opening of a 30,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility in Rushford, MN.

The plant will focus on low-volume electronic assembly.

RiverBend says it created the business out of a need for product startup and end-of-life services in the industry. The company will provide circuit board assembly, box build, product distribution and any related process requirements.

PALO ALTO, CA – Revenues of ICs used in the world’s automobile market will grow 34% by 2010 from $6.8 billion last year, Frost & Sullivan said today.

The proliferation of automobile electronic content is a result of government pollution guidelines, safety and security regulations, and the ongoing oil crisis, says the research firm. This growing need directly influences the markets of automobile application specific integrated circuits, application specific standard parts, and field programmable gate arrays.

In addition, rising fuel prices in the world market feed the demand for electric and hybrid vehicles, which in turn can boost the growth of electronics in automobiles, the company adds.

Sales of ASICs, ASSPs, and FPGAs have improved because of integrated solutions, which have enabled manufacturers to lower costs by reducing the number of microcontrollers in automobiles.

Mandatory government regulations to enforce safety and security have greatly contributed to the growth of this market, Frost says. In Europe, regulations such as the electronic stability program, antilock braking system, and electronically controlled independent suspension will likely help generate substantial revenues.

In the Asian region, increasing sales of automobiles drives the growth of ASICs, ASSPs, and FPGAs markets, and the Asian market also has the potential to become the key contributor to overall revenues, the firm believes.

Intense competition in the market exists, however, especially among the ASIC and ASSP segments. These products are characterized by higher nonrecurring engineering and take a longer time to market.

Technological developments can help reduce the time to market and NRE cost in ASIC and ASSP. Similarly, developments in FPGAs can lower the unit and integration costs and improve performance, says Frost.

Chipmakers can further resist competition by creating an extensive portfolio of core designs, developing electronic design automation software tools, and engaging with OEM customers in accelerating the market share of programmable logic devices.